A Dangerous Game For Love
by sheerio4ever
Summary: Ian has had a bad life. The only one who gives him a smile, doesn't look at him in disgust or pity, who greets him when they walk past each other was kidnapped by the gang that has haunted him and Kyle since forever. When Ian decides to play a dangerous game of Russian Roulette to save her, what will happen?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host. **

**A/N: I hope that you all like this story. It's a little violent but not greatly graphic. Thanks for reading. **

As he looked at the almost lifeless body on the table, he began to relent on his first decision. The blonde girl whose body had been carelessly thrown upon the table and bound to it by thick, heavy ropes. When he said that she was blonde in was really just a guess; her hair was a matted and dirty. Her skin was filthy too - it looked as if she hadn't seen soap in quite a while, did these men have no respect for her? When he had first entered the dirty, humid, dank room he had thought she was dead. To be honest, he still would if it weren't for the miraculous slow rise and fall of her tiny chest.

He could only imagine what they had done to her and even that was vile. He could practically hear her shrill, timid screams right now... The ghost of her screams. He shivered in the warm room.

"Well O' Shea, what is your final answer?" The man who spoke had an evil glint in his eye. He was the ringleader of this sick organization although you wouldn't have guessed it - he looked nothing like his stereotypical character. His lacky, on the other hand, looked exactly like the stereotypical villain. He was lacking in the brains department but had a good swing with the hammer - Kyle would know.

Ian actually couldn't remember how he and Kyle had gotten involved with this mess, but apparently it had something to do with his now deceased parents and some debt. Of course, the debt had been paid a long time ago, yet he was still here, trying to save a girl that he hardly knew - but was the cost too great?

"Come on O' Shea, we don't have all day." The leader, also named Keith, said impatiently. "Will you attempt to save the girl or not?"

The prices you ask? Either walk away and leave the small, defenseless girl to die or play a dangerous game of Russian Roulette.

The only thing that even slightly tempted him was the fact that Keith was a man of his word. He may not be fair, kind or generous but he always kept his word.

"I'll save her."

. . .

"Okay O' Shea, you know how this game works?" Keith's malicious voice ripped me unwillingly from my thoughts and plans.

I shivered in the humid, stale air. This was stupid, risky and arrogant. If Kyle ever found out he would murder me, he would never look me in the eye again, he would hate me and think of me as an insensitive little prick who was ungrateful for all the things that he had sacrificed.

Kyle wouldn't understand. Kyle didn't know that Ian had a feeling that this girl was worth saving. Kyle didn't feel that spark that Ian had felt that one night. Kyle didn't feel sympathetic for others that were less fortunate than them, partially because they understand what it was like living a low life that really couldn't sink any lower. The life of debt, crime, drugs, threats, blackmails and broken bones.

"Yes." I looked up reluctantly. "I do."

There was two wooden chairs placed either side of a wooden table. A gun and a single, but deadly, bullet rested on the table, harmless for now. One chair was for me, the other was for one of Keith's various sidekicks that were stupid enough to risk their lives in a stupid game for someone that they barely knew... but then again, wasn't I?

I pushed myself up off the wall with a deep breath to still my shaking body - it would be no good to break my calm mask and let them know my real, inner feelings.

I dragged the chair out across the flagstone floor that had previously echoed my heavy footsteps. The high pitched squealing, scratching noise was enough to make me wince in pain, as the noise reverberated through my ears and into my brain. Not that it mattered, chances were that my brain would be blown to bits in a matter of minutes. I hope it would be painless. Ha, painless, yeah right... of course it was going to be painful to shoot yourself in the head, even if you do die instantly. Those thoughts alone were enough to make my throat tight.

I didn't want to die. I didn't. I thought I did, but that was a long time ago - it had been ages since I had felt the urge to jump from a high surface or feel blood running down my wrists.

Then I began to think. If I died, Keith could easily make my death look like a suicide attempt - he knew my history. Then Kyle would beat himself up because he would feel that he did not do a good enough job in making sure that I was mentally well and truly over my 'troubles', has everyone seemed to refer them to. Either way Kyle was a major factor in this and he was going to hate me whether I live or die... unless I backed out.

But as an image of that girl flashed through my mind, I knew that there was no way I was backing out. This girl, she was the only one who would smile at me in the hallways and in the cafeteria. She would sit beside me quietly in assembly without giving me a look of pity or disgust. She would murmur a hello if we passed in the street. And even though the only words we had ever exchanged were those small hellos, she seemed to be always there in the back of my mind, reassuring me without words and steadying me without touch. Yes, there was something about her, something about her that my instincts told me to save. And if there was one thing that helped me most in my whole life, it was my instincts.

"Who's going first?" I was surprised at how calm my voice was. I was even more surprised at how I said them. Casually. Like I did this every day for fun.

"You might as well O' Shea." Keith smirked menacingly as he handed me the loaded gun. Funny, I hadn't seen him take it which meant that I didn't see him put in the bullet. The suspicious side of my brain was alerted.

"I'd really rather not." I said, eyeing him.

"Why not O' Shea?" His eyes narrowed. "You too chicken?"

"No." I snapped defensively. "I just feel that, since you are the host and all, that your friend here may as well go first." I hoped to God that he didn't know anything about manners and the fact that the guest was always supposed to go first. He was still eyeing me up, so I added: "Unless you have something to hide."

Keith may be a man who kept his promises but that didn't mean that he played fair. In fact, he may just be the dirtiest player in the history of the gangs in New York. The top ten at the very least.

Keith's lips twisted into a sick smirk at that comment.

"Really O' Shea? Where would my manners be in that?" Okay, so that ruled out that tactic. Apparently his mother did attempt to teach him manners. He chose to ignore my last bit though.

"Oh I don't mind." I gave him my best smile. "But if you are really, really insistent I supposed we could flip a coin."

Keith's eyebrows shot up a bit at that. I could almost hear what he was thinking: so this kid thinks that he can outsmart me eh?

"Okay." He agreed slowly. "You got a coin?" But of course he accepted. He was Keith Barrett - he never rejected a challenge. I pulled a coin out of my pocket effortlessly.

"A coin from Europe? How fancy." He sneered. My heart stopped. That coin was the last thing I had of my father. He had been Irish before he moved to Europe.

"Give it back." My voice was made of steel and not thick with emotion like it normally would have when the coin was in subject.

"No can do kiddo, now I'll let you have first pick. Head or tails?" There was a satisfied tone in his voice. Of course there was. I blinked hard to prevent tears from dripping from my eyes to my face. It would do absolutely no good to cry in front of Keith.

"Heads." I turned away as Keith flipped the coin high in the air. I only turned as I heard the coin drop onto the table. I ripped my eyes off the wall and said a silent prayer to God.

And on the table lay the coin and the side facing up was... tails.

"Okay O' Shea, your first."

"No, wait." I stopped him.

"What now?" He growled, beginning to lose patience.

"If you had caught it in your hand you would have had to flip it over. So..." I leaned across the table and turned the coin over."John doe over there goes first."

The silence was almost overwhelming.

"Very well." Keith spoke quietly. Dangerously. Evilly. He handed the gun over to the man at the other side of the table. He gulped. There was a reason I was supposed to go first.

"Boss..."

"Quit your whining Morrissey, you volunteered so you will do the job." Keith growled in distaste.

I watched as Morrissey got ready to fire the gun. All I could think was: It would be me in that position if I hadn't been so lucky.

He spun the barrel gingerly. When it clicked he held the gun to his head.

I couldn't help but think that if I were in his position, I would turn the gun and shoot Keith as revenge.

He put his finger to the trigger. Pressed it down and... I looked away as I heard the bang. Instead I looked up at Keith.

"I won. I want the girl now." Keith glared at me.

"Have her, you nasty piece of shit. And don't you ever come near me again or I will not hesitate to kill you. Same goes for her." He spat.

He went into the back room and cut her ropes. He swung her over his shoulder and placed her in my arms.

"Now get the hell out of here before I change my mind O' Shea." As I began to walk away, I heard her moan quietly. Of course. She was in pain.

"Don't worry," I whispered. "You're going to be alright. I'll make sure of it."

**A/N: This is NOT the end. I promise. Updates may be slow though. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host. **

**A/N: Thanks for all of your beautiful reviews :) **

When Ian arrived home there was nobody there, thankfully. He shifted Wanda gently as he closed the door and locked it. Obviously he wasn't gently enough as she left out a soft moan. That wasn't a good sign. He didn't know the extents of her injuries but it seemed pretty bad so far. What if he had to take her to a hospital? What would he do? How would he come up with a story that seemed believable? He couldn't exactly barge in and go: 'Oh, how did this happen? Well, it's not too bad, it just happened that a gang kidnapped her and I saved her by outsmarting the leader at Russian Roulette, you know?' He wondered how many people would believe him. He wondered how many people would vote to put him into a mental institute.

He walked into the small, cramped room that Kyle and he referred to as their sitting room. He tried to make his steps as smooth as possible but it didn't really help much. He set her down on the couch as carefully as he could. She was just small enough to lie down on it, with her legs slightly bent. Her size compared to the couch made her look even more vulnerable and breakable.

"I'll be back in a minute." He whispered softly, not sure if she could hear him. She just left out a groan of pain. Her eyes stayed closed, she hadn't opened them the whole way to the house. He couldn't blame her though, he had taken the back, hidden streets - if you could even call them streets - to avoid being seen. Not that he was guilty of anything but if you got caught carrying a beaten up, small girl's body that had probably been reported missing you wouldn't exactly look innocent.

He ran down the hall into the bathroom and turned on the water heater. He would try and clean her up to see what blood was from a cut and what blood was just a smeared stain. He didn't turn the tap on to fill the bath just quite yet, it took absolutely forever for the bloody thing to heat up properly - an hour at least.

He walked slowly back to the sitting room, examining the old, cracked walls of his house... his home. There used to be pictures all over the walls courtesy of his mom, but as soon as she died and his relatives stopped caring, Kyle took all of the memories down. The memory of that day was still so fresh in his mind...

A ten year old Ian looked up and met the eyes of an angry fifteen year old Kyle. Normally he would have said it was completely normal - Kyle was a parents worse nightmare when he hit puberty. Anger was a frequent emotion for him - it seemed that it was the only emotion he was capable until that day, the day it all fell apart. This anger was a different kind of anger, this anger made tears well up in Kyle's eyes. The first time Ian had seen Kyle close to crying in years. Ian didn't say a word that day. Thinking back, Ian thought that maybe he should have, but he could go back and change the past. Kyle had stalked past Ian and locked himself into his bedroom. That was also the night that Ian tried to cook food for the first time. It was that night that Ian had first burnt himself, and he had cried out for his mother in pain. That was the night Kyle became like a parent figure to Ian as well as a brother. Kyle had rushed out of his bedroom and picked Ian off the ground where he lay clutching his hand in agony, crying. Kyle didn't say a word about how big boys didn't cry, he just guided Ian to the tap and pushed his hand under the cold water. He put some of the cream that his mother had kept up in the medicine cabinet and a white bandage. Then he led Ian to the dinner table, with a box of markers, and helped him decorate the bandage. All without a word.

Later that night, when Ian was supposed to be asleep, Kyle had crept out of his room. Ian heard him and followed him, standing outside the door of his bedroom, just barely hidden out of sight. He watched silently as Kyle ripped down every single one of those photographs and with angry roars mixed with heart wrenching sobs tore every single one of those photos into tiny, little shreds on the floor. When Kyle had finished he took a deep breath and turned around only to spot Ian outside the door. "Go to bed." He had told him shortly and walked back into his own bedroom. That was the only night that Kyle had ever shown his feelings in any way other than drink himself stupid.

As Ian released himself from the scarring memory and sank down onto the floor, his back resting against the wall. He felt hopeless, he felt like a traitor, he felt all that depression sink back into his bones, he felt the urge to cry, he felt the urge to scream, he felt the urge to cut... Instead he just put his head in his hands and tried to resist the urge to fall back onto the endless despair that he had previously lost himself in.

. . .

Somewhere along all the condemning feelings that he had been battling with, Ian had fallen asleep. He didn't know how long for but in that moment it didn't matter - he had heard a scream.

He jumped up straight away and ran into the sitting room where he had left Wanda. There, a few feet away from the couch, stood Jodi, Kyle's girlfriend, who looked absolutely horrified. Damn! Ian thought. He had forgotten that she was coming over today.

"Ian Patrick O' Shea!" she shrieked. "Would you care to tell me why the hell there is a tramp lying on the couch!"

"Jodi," Ian gulped, she had the capability to be as terrified as Kyle. "I can, uh, explain everything."

"Oh you better be able to." She growled, glaring at him. "Now start explaining."

"Keith Barrett kidnapped her." That was mistake number one.

"Excuse me?" She snapped, shocked that I would bring him up.

"Umm... I went to see if I could talk him into letting her go." That was mistake number two.

"What?" Jodi was feeling more sick as every moment passed by. "What did you do Ian?" She whispered desperately.

"I - I played Russian Roulette and won." Ian whispered guiltily. Mistake number three. Jodi slapped him hard across the cheek.

"How could you Ian? After all that Kyle has done to keep you away from shit like that!" Jodi was still whispering but her blood was boiling and she felt dizzy like she was about to faint.

"I need you to help me Jodi," Ian pleaded. "She's injured."

"Why should I help Ian? After everything! You met with him and you played Russian Roulette!" Jodi's voice rose until she was screeching at him.

Then the door behind them opened and Kyle stepped into the room.

"Who's played Russian Roulette?"

Oh no.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host. **

**A/N: Sorry for not updating for so long. This chapter is dedicated to CleverRebelD2 who helped me get a move on :) **

**Italics is flashback. **

"I said who has played Russian Roulette?" Kyle demanded. I think that he knew really, because he was avoiding my eyes. He was trying to stay in denial. No such luck, he should that by now. Instead his gaze penetrated Jodi's. I was sure that she was going to daub me in, but she stayed quiet. "Okay, next question, who the hell is on my couch?" No-one piped up to answer that question either. That was okay though, Kyle seemed to piece it together on his own. I could tell by the way his eyes grew stormy.

"Jodi, I think you should go while I have a little talk with my brother." Kyle's tone was dangerous but Jodi hesitated.

"You should go," I whispered. "I'll be okay. Can you bring her with you?" I asked, knowing that Jodi's sister, Sunny, was a nurse and also a trusted friend of ours. She nodded. I carried the girl to the car and slipped her into the back seat. "Back roads incase you get pulled over."

"Okay." She nodded, getting into the car. "Be careful Ian. Don't make him angrier." She clicked on her seatbelt. "And remember that this is all your fault." She drove off, leaving me with no choice but to go back inside the house and confront a no doubt, furious Kyle.

'All your fault.' Jodi's voice echoed inside my head. 'All your fault.' It's not like I didn't know that.

"Ian O' Shea," Kyle growled. "What the hell is going on? And don't you dare walk away from me. I want answers." It wasn't like Kyle didn't already know the bare essentials of what was going on.

"Kyle, what did you expect me to do? I couldn't just leave her there!" I cried out, defending myself.

"Yes Ian, you were supposed to leave her there. You are supposed to know better than that. I thought I told you to stay away from the gangs. I don't need you getting us involved with them again!" He shouted. "I thought you had more common sense than that, to even go near Keith Barrett and his cronies again, and I damn well thought that you had more sense than to go and play Russian Roulette with them." Kyle looked furious. "There is no actual way to win a game of Russian Roulette with the gangs, they use trickery. And you, you stupid idiot, went and played, somehow managed to win and now, now they'll be after us again. Except this time it is solely for blood and they don't care about any money!" Kyle screamed, pushing the couch over in anger.

"If it were Jodi, you wouldn't just leave her there." I answered coldly.

"The difference is that Jodi is my girlfriend, that girl on the couch, what is she? A random girl off the street. No wait, let me guess. You've seen her from school, she's one of the rare people who smile and you and greets you in the morning because she is polite. Am I right? Ian, you have to get over yourself. You've got to stop!" Kyle shouted, his face red.

"Shut up!" I screamed. "Just shut-up! I'm sick of you telling me what to do. Sick of what you say being the law around here. Sick of the fact that you are allowed to sacrifice yourself and I'm expected to be the good little boy that goes to school and does what he is told. I hate going to school, hate that nobody talks to me, nobody likes me, everybody is scared of me. So yes Kyle, when someone makes it a point to be a little nice to you out of six hundred other students in the school that are horrible to you, you automatically like them, okay?" I screamed at him.

I took a few deep, angry breaths, turned around, grabbed my jacket off the coat hook and stormed out the door. Desperately hoping that Kyle would call me back and tell me that he understands.

But he didn't.

. . .

I walked around, pretty much in circles, trying to work off some steam. I figured that I'd call Jodi later, to be updated, but I couldn't bring myself to talk to anybody right now. I was in the local park, sitting down on one of the many benches. I sighed, and rested my chin in my hands. Then I spotted a couple of people that I knew from school, people who were friends with Wanda, carrying a bouquet of flowers sadly. I decided to follow them discretely.

They led me to the side of a stone statue, right in the middle of the park. There were candles and prayer cards, a dead bouquet or two, all placed against the sides. There were about a girl who had gone missing... called Wanda.

I watched as the girl from school, Melanie I think she is called, placed the bouquet of flowers down, tears streaming down her cheeks. Her boyfriend, Jared, pulls her into a tight hug. I don't really know them that well, since they are in the class ahead of me, but I know that Melanie is Wanda's adopted sister. She must feel awful. I watched as someone came up behind them, I instantly recognised him. Jeb Stryder, a member of the police force, and he wasn't the type to sit around lounging and eating donuts.

I decided to head back home and try to sneak in without Kyle noticing, you know, if he weren't passed out drunk in his room by now, and grab my mobile phone. I needed to call Jodi, and let her know the situation, that maybe we were wrong. Maybe we should have brought her to hospital, and made up a lie of how we found her.

Because Wanda's adopted father was Jeb Stryder, and he was a ruthless, dangerous man that you didn't want to cross...

_I watched from the behind the door as Mr. Jeb Stryder strolled into our house like he owned the place. He greeted my mother and father cheerfully, but there was something dangerous there, something that showed that he wasn't to be messed around with. _

_"Hello there Mr. and Mrs. O' Shea," he said to them. "How's it going? All good I hope." _

_"What do you want?" My mother had asked, her voice was shaky and croaky like she had a sore throat. _

_"I want to know how exactly you were involved with... the crimes around here." Jeb answered, and I could tell that he was smirking. _

_"What crimes?" My dad asked innocently. "I have no idea what you are talking about."_

_"Oh, but I think you do Mr. O' Shea, and I would advise you to do the right thing if I were you. I'll be waiting for you down at the police station, I wouldn't advise you not to come, there will be... bad consequences." And that was the end of that. My parents had never went and met him, and my father came home drunk a lot. _

Of course, I knew that Jeb had a nice side, everyone knew that. After all, he had adopted his niece and nephew instead of letting them be sent away to foster homes or boarding school when their parents had died, and he adopted a little girl when she was six, Wanda...

...And there was nothing that he wouldn't do for his little girl.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host. **

**A/N: ****Okay, anyway, you may, or may have not noticed that today I updated all 13 of my stories. It is because today is a very special day, which is the 21st of July. This time last year I joined as Sheerio4ever. And here I am. So as a mini celebration of the last 12 months, I have decided to update all my stories, and maybe update my profile :) Enjoy.**

Instead of going back for my phone, I decided to walk to Jodi's house and check on her personally. And to also pass on the horrible news. I walked up to her front door and knocked on it. It sprung open.

"Ian..." Jodi began, but I cut her off.

"Jodi, you have to bring her to the hospital. She's Jeb Stryder's adopted daughter." I gasped.

"I know," she said sadly. "They told Sunny and I at the hospital."

"What?" I asked dizzily.

"I had to Ian. She was in such a state. Sunny didn't have the right equipment to treat her, so we brought her into the hospital. She was really bad Ian. We said that we found her in one of the bad streets, that it looked like she'd been mugged and beaten up." Jodi looked at me sympathetically. "I called you, but you didn't pick up."

I nodded. "You did the right thing." I said tightly.

"How did it go with Kyle anyway?" She said, ushering me inside.

"Pretty bad, I don't want to talk about." Jodi nodded.

"Okay, you stay here. I'm going to cook you some dinner - you look like you could need it. But you don't breathe a word of my kindness to Kyle you hear, or he won't talk to me for a week." I nodded eagerly. I hadn't realized how hungry I had been until she had said it.

"Thank-you," I answered. Jodi just smiled and walked into the kitchen.

I looked around at Jodi's small house, I wasn't over here often. Usually it was her that came over to ours. The only time we ever came over really was Christmas, Thanksgiving and Jodi's birthday.

Jodi had come from a messed up family like ours. Only her problem hadn't been money, it had been drugs. I think that she used to get abused too, maybe. Nobody ever confirmed my assumption, but the way Kyle was with her - never being too harsh, even when he was drunk, pretty much gave it away. Jodi had managed to escape when she was sixteen and get a job. She had been fortunate enough to never sink low and get hooked on the stuff. She saved her money, and now she had a neat little place. She had also found her sister, Sunny, who had ran away the year after her, and managed to obtain a scholarship to get a nursing degree.

"Dinner O' Shea," Jodi called. "Hurry, before it gets cold."

I entered the kitchen. It had a small table that seated four, and there were two plates full of delicious food. Chicken, and rice with carrots, broccoli and garden peas.

"Eat up," she said handing me a fork, and sitting across from me to eat her own food. I noticed that her plate had less stuff than mine. "If you be a good boy," she teased. "I might just have some caramel ice-cream in the freezer."

"With chocolate bits?" I asked hopefully.

"I have some flakes up in the press," she answered smiling. "And then maybe we can ring the hospital, see if we can squeeze some information out of them about the girl, what's her name again... Melanie?"

"Wanda," I corrected. "And I'd like that." I munched on my food thoughtfully. "Jodi," I said slowly. "Why do you love Kyle? Like really. He must be very hard to put up with - I should know, I live with him."

Jodi shrugged. "I don't know, sure sometimes I want to hit him across the head with a sledge hammer, but I love him. I don't know why I do, but I just... do. What's brought all this on?" She asked her eyes sparkling. "You don't happen to be... in love, now do you Ian?" Then she sobered up. "It's about the Stryder girl, isn't it?"

I nodded.

"Oh Ian, maybe you love her, maybe you don't. Maybe you just feel like you have to love her, I don't know. But what I do know, is that she should be a very grateful little girl. She just got rescued by one of the kindness, gentlest, greatest man I know. And I'm not just saying that so he'll hurry up and finish his dinner so we can have ice-cream, or because I'm dating his big brother. I'm saying it because it's true."

And I grinned at her. A real smile upon my face.

"Thanks Jodi."

**A/N: Short, but hopefully sweet. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host. **

_One year later... _

Ian had graduated from high-school a month ago, and he was finally free. He had even, to his immense surprise, gotten a scholarship to go to college, and Jodi and Kyle were pushing him to go. We was walking down the street, trying to think what he would like to do - he has decided to accept the scholarship and give college a try ever since he had received it, but Jodi and Kyle didn't know that.

He went to the part and stared at the stone statue that, a year ago, had been surrounded with flowers and candles for a girl that had been kidnapped. A girl that he had saved. Wanda Stryder.

Of course, she didn't know anything about that. As far as she was concerned, she got kidnapped, beaten up and left on the streets to die, where a person found her and brought her to the hospital. The Stryders had moved the other side of New York after that, and I hadn't seen Wanda since.

Not that it really mattered.

He walked into a café and ordered a hot chocolate, and decided to read the leaflet of all the option that he had based on my results. He had plenty of options. He could be hairdresser, maybe not, or he could be teacher, hmm that wouldn't be too bad... or he could be a-

"Is anyone sitting here?" Ian looked up, right into the eyes of Wanda Stryder.

"Uh no," He stuttered. "You can sit."

"Thanks," she smiled. "Are you going to City College of New York too?" She asked smiling down at the brochure.

"Yeah," He smiled. Wanda was going to CCNY too? "I got a scholarship."

"Congratulations," she smiled at him. "What are you doing? I'm going to study childcare."

"Umm, I really don't know. I wasn't planning on even going until I got the scholarship, and I didn't want to waste it." Ian said frowning. "There are so many things to do."

"You'll figure it out soon enough," she said kindly. And then she groaned. Melanie Stryder had entered the café.

"Wanda, there you are!" She exclaimed. "I've been looking all over for you, you said that you would come shopping with me." Wanda looked as if Melanie wanted to drag her to the pits of hell.

"Do I have to?" She pouted, and it was an adorable pout.

"Yes, you promised." Melanie said, hands on her hips. "Now stop socialising and come shopping," she peered over my shoulder. "Oh, you are going to CCNY too?" Ian nodded. "Cool." Melanie tossed her long hair over her shoulder and grabbed Ian's hot chocolate.

"Hey!" He began.

"Don't worry," she waved him off and pressed a fiver into his hand. "By yourself another one, I just don't have time to wait around while they make it." And with that she turned around and walked out of the shop.

"So sorry about that," Wanda whispered, her cheeks red. "Maybe I'll see you again, I'd better go before she comes in and decides to drag me out. It was nice meeting you." And she rushed out of the café after Melanie.

It was then that I relised that we hadn't introduced ourselves to each other.

. . .

"All I'm saying is that it would be good for you to go to college if it's going to be pretty much free," Kyle argued, chewing on his food thoughtfully. "I never got the chance to go to college - then again I was never particularly interested in my education. But you are. You can learn and I hear that there is a lot of parties and-" Jodi interrupted him with a glare.

"I think what Kyle is trying to say is, go to college while it is free to try it out. If you like it then you can go back again - it's not that hard to get a loan for students, and make something of yourself." Jodi said.

"Yeah, I decided that I'm going to go, but... I don't know what I should do..." I answered glumly.

"A lawyer." Kyle suggested. Jodi and I shook our head.

"You should do something outdoorsy," Jodi answered. "Like... you should become a personal trainer or something!"

The argument and suggestions continued all night long.

And that night I decided that I was going to be a P.E teacher.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host. **

**A/N: Updates will probably get slower (I know, I know, it's not like they aren't slow enough already) after this chapter since I am back to school on Thursday (the 28th of August) and it is my Junior Exams this year, so I actually have to study (pfft... me? studying? nah.) I also have like, 14 stories to write and trying to make time for each story, homework and studying all the while still maintaining my social life is going to be no easy task (I'm not a great multi-tasker), but I will not, and I can promise you this, **_**I will not abandon this story or any of my others.**_

It was my first day at CCNY, and I was filled with a mixture of excitement and dread. I was training to become a P.E teacher, but I was also going to become a geography teacher as well. It was advised that if you were going to become a teacher that you take up more than one subject - it was safer incase you didn't excel in one, or there weren't any positions that suited that one particular subject.

I had managed to scrap up a decent amount of money to buy whatever I need. I kept my old school bag, and I still had a good amount of stationary, all I really need to get was some notebooks and the actual textbooks. The textbooks I got from eBay, and they were relatively cheap and in decent condition. Thankfully everything else was covered, the only thing that I hadn't been prepared for was Jodi and Kyle.

Two days ago, when I had moved onto campus, because it was also free with the scholarship and easier than getting the bus whenever my classes were on, Kyle and Jodi had dropped me off and helped me take my stuff up to my dorm room, which I was sharing with Jared Howe, Melanie Stryder's boyfriend the last time I checked. He hadn't arrived yet, so I had gotten first pick of the bed - I picked the one nearest to the window.

Jodi had taken the opportunity to henpeck, and hug me, and cry, and even worry. It was so unlike Jodi that I had a hard time believing that it wasn't a dream. Kyle on the other hand was making jokes about parties and girls, and telling me to enjoy the chance that I had gotten, and that he was so proud of me - and jealous too. Then he went on to talk about how he wished that he could go hear, that the girls looked like fun - which earned him a playful slap across the shoulders by Jodi. But as soon as it was time to go, he started tearing up too, and saying that he was going to miss having me around. Of course, I had insisted that I would be coming home on the weekends, but they both rolled their eyes and exchanged a "yeah right" look with each other.

After they had left, Jared had arrived struggling in with all his bags while his father came in empty-handed after him, chatting about the football opportunities. Jared had looked at me, and rolled his eyes, before looking back at his father to pretend that he was listening. His father took one look at my shabby attire and ignored me, giving me no words of greeting. Not that I would lose any sleep over his lack of manners.

Later on, when Mr. Howe was finally gone, Jared introduced himself.

"Jared Howe."

"Ian O' Shea."

"Okay, we have to lay down the law I guess... Do you have a girlfriend?" I was struck by the seemingly randomness of this question.

"Umm... no?" I answered.

"Well, I do, and I promise that I'll let you know beforehand if I'm bringing her over for the night. Of course, most of the time I won't be able to warn you if she appears - she has a habit of just walking through the door. Quite rude, but you get used to it." We both looked at the door expectedly. "Damn it, I actually expected her to just walk in right now," Jared grinned at me, and I found myself grinning back. "Anyway, if you get a girlfriend or you are just bringing someone back for the night, let me know a good while beforehand so that I can make myself scarce."

"Right," I nodded.

"Okay, you got any rules?"

"Only one - don't touch my books." I thought to the small collection of classic books that I had under my bed. _A Tale of Two Cities, Othello, Jane Eyre _and the likes. I had a bit of poetry too. They were worn and battered and most definitely from thrift shops, but they were mine.

"Fine, as long as you don't touch my beer without asking." Jared told me nodding. "Also, don't tell anyone that I have beer. Especially not my girlfriend Melanie, or I'll have none left. She tends to pour it out the window if I've upset her, or drink it all if someone else has upset her." No sooner were the words out of his mouth, did Melanie Stryder crash into the room.

"Jared!" She fumed. "You gave me the wrong room number, I just stood at the room across the way yelling at you to open the door." She glared at her boyfriend, and then she spotted me. "Aha! I know you! You are that guy from the café, the one that was talking to Wanda."

"Umm... yeah," I agreed. "That was me."

"Cool, now how about you give Jared and I some alone time and you head to my room and accompany Wanda - the number is 132." And I decided that I should probably leave, so I got up and walked out the door. And as I was closing the door I heard a piece of Mel and Jared's conversation.

"Nice way to tell Ian to get out, you know him?"

"Wanda does apparently, and his name is Ian?"

I shook my head and decided to go pay Wanda a visit.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Host. **

**A/N: So it's the Easter Holidays and I've the next week and a half off school, and I had some free time, and I'm using it to try and get my creativity going again. Hopefully I'll be able to update all of my stories at least once. And yeah, I know, this had been a long time coming - I don't even want to think about how long it has been since I last updated... **

What room had Melanie said that Wanda was in? 132, that was it.

I stood outside room 132, my fist raised as if I was going to knock. But I hadn't yet, because I hadn't quite figured out what I was going to say. I barely knew her, had talked to her all of twice (the first time of which it was one-sided and she was unconscious for most of it) and she probably had already forgotten who I was. Just because Melanie remembered didn't mean that Wanda had. Also, she didn't even know my name! We hadn't actually introduced ourselves in the coffee shop, just talked about CCNY and then Melanie had dragged her out of there.

As it turned out, I didn't need to knock on the door.

"Umm, don't hit me?" Wanda greeted as she swung the door open.

I quickly realised that my fist was still raised in the air, and I dropped it down to my side. "Hi," I said awkwardly. Wanda was in jeans and a blouse, but she still looked gorgeous. "I never got to introduce myself the last time - I'm Ian."

"Wanda, now come in, come in," Wanda told me, stepping out of the way, a small smile on her face. "I could use an extra pair of hands."

"What for?" I asked.

"I'm going to dye my hair!" she announced, grabbing a cardboard box off the dresser.

"What?" I asked, my jaw dropping. "Why the hell would you want to do that?" I looked at her, trying to figure out why she would want to deface her beautiful, blonde curls. I couldn't imagine her in any other colour.

"Because... I want to," she said, sticking her tongue out at me like a child.

"And you can't get Melanie to do this girly stuff why?" I asked, reaching my hand out for the dye. Wanda handed it over and I examined the colour examples on the side of the box. "Purple? Really? Isn't that a little extreme?"

"No!" Wanda exclaimed defensively, snatching the box out of my hands. "It's not!"

"Seriously though," I said, sitting on the edge on her, or Melanie's, bed. "Why do you want to dye your hair? And why do you think that I, out of all people, am able to dye hair. I think Jared is more of a safe bet, I bet that his hair is dyed."

Wanda giggled. "Believe it or not, that is Jared's natural colour. No dye, no tan, no teeth whiteners. You know him?"

"Yeah, he's my roommate," I told her. "Only I don't know how much time I'll be spending in that room with Melanie around."

"Don't worry," Wanda grinned. "You're always welcome over here to keep me company. Now, are we going to get cracking?"

"Not until you answer my question that I've asked only about... a million times."

"Fine," Wanda pouted. "Melanie doesn't know that I'm dying my hair because she would go ballistic and throw the dye out the window at some poor passer-by. And I want to dye my hair because... I don't want people to recognise me," she admitted softly.

"Why wouldn't you want that?" I knew that I was being nosy, but still...

"Well, don't act like you don't know about when I was kidnapped by a gang," Wanda answered, her face twisting into a grimace. "All everyone thinks when they look at me is: that poor girl, or they wonder how I even got out alive with Jeb having paid the ransom yet. Some people think I'm a hero who had a few tricks up her sleeves and escaped on her own, but it truth I have no idea how I got out. All I know is that some nice lady found me on the street and brought me to hospital." Wanda looked away from me and I had the feeling that she was trying not to cry. I felt like hugging her, but we didn't know each other, and I didn't know how she would take it.

"Sorry, sorry," Wanda said after awhile, wiping her eyes. "I shouldn't be burdening you with my problems."

I shook my head. "Well, seeing as we are going to be spending a lot of time together from now on because of our lovey dovey roommates, I think that you are allowed to talk to me, besides, we are now, from this moment on, friends." I grabbed the dye from her hands. "And because we are friends, I cannot let you dye your whole head purple, especially for such a reason, seeing as people will recognise your face, and your sister."

Wanda frowned. "I hadn't thought of that..."

"See? This is what I'm here for." I grinned, kicking the dye under the bed. "And it could really jeopardise your course for you - some people are still under the stupid notion that purple hair, and such other colours, spells out trouble."

Wanda looked at me astonished. "I hadn't thought of that either..." Then she hugged me. "Thank you so, so much. I'm glad that Melanie sent you over here, and I'm really glad that I didn't try dying my hair alone."

"You welcome," I answered, smiling.

I felt really happy, something that I hadn't felt in awhile.

I think going to CCNY was the best decision that I ever made.


End file.
